The World According to Oatney

Odom Already Plays the Sore Loser

Tennessee Republican Chairman Chris Devaney has apparently enhanced his lower anatomy by writing an open letter to Tennessee House Democratic Leader Gary Odom in response to Odom's grandstanding over the implementation of the Voter Confidence Act. Apparently, in Leader Odom's reckoning, Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett has power from on High to make federally-acceptable optical scan machines appear from thin air in order that paper ballots may be counted in a manner that the Federal Election Assistance Commission deems appropriate.

The next time that I happen to see the Secretary of State in the hallway at the Capitol, I will be sure to look for the pillar of cloud if the sun is up, and the pillar of fire should it be eventide. Perhaps I need to ask Moses Hargett if he would extend his rod to rid the Legislature of the whiniest members of the party opposite.

Chairman Devaney hit the nail on the head in his words to the Minority Windbag:

It appears that politics are playing more of a role in your party’s actions than those of concrete public policy. It is doubtful you would be raising such an issue if you had not lost your legislative majority and retained a Democrat as Secretary of State and a Democrat majority on the State and County Election Commissions. Your leadership in overseeing these losses for your fellow party members certainly appears to be intensifying your misleading attacks towards the current Secretary of State and is unproductive in moving our state forward.

Democrats in this State are not used to losing legislative elections, but last year they lost one for the first time in any of our lives. If current political trends continue they appear to be on their way to two election defeats in a row, the blame for which would be laid squarely on Gary Odom and his lack of political acumen.

Odom's strategy for the 2010 election currently seems to be for the Democrats to lose and then blame that loss on the lack of vote-counting machines which have yet to exist according to law. How the mighty have fallen! It wasn't long ago when I really believed that despite my political differences with him, Gary Odom was a man of character. Attempting to blame the vote counter for the strong potential that one may lose is not indicative of good political character. Rather than fussing like a baby who is about to have its lollipop taken away, Odom should be campaigning to turn the fortunes of his beleagured party around. Instead, he already sounds like a sore loser, and the election is still almost a year and a half away.

Labels: Democrats, Republican Party, Tennessee politics

posted by Deacon David Oatney @ 9:00 AM